{"id":5292,"date":"2018-03-16T17:21:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T17:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/?p=5292"},"modified":"2026-01-09T12:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:03:16","slug":"donating-a-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/donating-a-vehicle\/","title":{"rendered":"Title Transfers: How To Donate Vehicles In California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Donating a vehicle to charity is an altruistic act. Many charities welcome this type of donations and praise car owners for their generous initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, donating a vehicle follows a list of DMV requirements that are mandatory. Complete your title transfer on time forget about future complications.<\/p>\n<h2>Steps to car donations<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say you lost interest in driving and decide to donate your car to any local charity. Of course, the first thing you need to do is to find a charity that accepts the donation of your vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Then you need to calculate the average market value of your car, which will help you file taxes later on. Do it appropriately.<\/p>\n<p>You may need to visit your local DMV to handle this procedure as any other type of transfer that involves selling\/buying or even gifting.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a list of simple steps that summarizes your obligations before donating a vehicle:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find a charity.<\/li>\n<li>Follow the IRS requirements for car donations.<\/li>\n<li>Fulfill the CA DMV requirements.<\/li>\n<li>Cancel your auto insurance immediately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/blog\/california-title-transfer-steps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>SEE ALSO:\u00a0Buying A Car In California? Follow These Title Transfer Steps<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Transferring your car title in California<\/h2>\n<p>Note that a vehicle title is a proof of ownership. Titles transfers also include donations, and the process is very similar to gifting but there are some specifications that need careful attention.<\/p>\n<p>For example, car donators must submit an updated smog certification which are dated within 90 days. At the same time, car donators may get a tax exemption depending on the charity they give their car to.<\/p>\n<p>Car donations also follow different requirements depending on where you live.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a list of the steps that you must follow to complete your vehicle title transfer for car donations in California:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Complete and sign your car title.<\/li>\n<li>Report odometer mileage reading, if your vehicle is less than 10 years old.<\/li>\n<li>Fill in a Vehicle\/Vessel Transfer\u00a0 and Reassignment Form (REG 262), which is only available at the CA DMV.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure the legal representative of the charity (recipient) signs the vehicle title.<\/li>\n<li>Complete a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability form (REG 138), which you must submit within 5 days after the date of transfer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you complete these DMV steps, the process is over and you won&#8217;t have to be worry about future hassles and other bureaucracies.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know that eTags offers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.etags.com\/app\/ca\/transfer\/lp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California vehicle title transfers online<\/a>? It\u2019s fast, easy, and hassle free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donating a vehicle to charity is an altruistic act. Many charities welcome this type of donations and praise car owners for their generous initiatives. Yet, donating a vehicle follows a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,18],"tags":[1603],"class_list":{"0":"post-5292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-california","7":"category-vehicle-titles","8":"tag-california-title"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Title Transfers: How To Donate Vehicles In California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Donating a vehicle to charity is an altruistic act. Many charities welcome this type of donations and praise people for their generous initiatives. Yet, donating a vehicle follows a list of DMV requirements that are mandatory. 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